Test Shoot - 11/1/09

"What a perfect day, perfect location for a photoshoot."

The weather was overcast and a bit chilly (pretty normal for a November day) and our location was amazing! Rich Dodge of RD Visuals called me up to join him on a test shoot down by the water in East Islip, N.Y so of course I jumped to the chance.

We were fortunate enough to get a hold of a 63' Plymouth.

Kristy was our model for the shoot. She was tough and held up in the chilly weather! Sonia did Kristy's hair which came out great (especially without any electricity on location).

Pre-photography:

Rich called me up and asked me to join him on a shoot so of course I agreed since I have not really seen him since college. We discussed the location, props, model, and set up a date and time to shoot. Rich was able to plot out his two location choices with detailed descriptions on google maps. The street view was helpful in surveying the location without having the first hand scouting.

The Shoot:

We arrived at our location - it was overcast, windy, and a bit chilly, but our excitement kept us going. Sonia and Rich were setting up a spot for hair when we realize the one outlet we had was not working! After Rich and I discussed our location options we settled on a really cool "back roads" kind of area that ha tall golden weeds and a long shabby road filled with puddles.

Once our model was on set. We focused on propping her with the vehicle we were blessed to have access to. Rich and I were sort of seeing things a bit differently, but in a good way! When I noticed Rich was using alot of my angles, being the photojournalist that I am, I didn't say a word, worked my way around it, and took my ideas in a different direction. I love to photograph product and love the idea of photographing people with products (which you will see more of in blogs to come). Alot of times I see things cinematically and I used this to my advantage in creating a story for my shots of her heals.

Equipment:

Most of my shots were on the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens because I wanted to get the compression of space long lenses will give you. I've always loved the way long lens shots looked so of course my instincts told me to pick up this lens (too bad it's so heavy)! I used my pocket wizards and attached one to Rich's Canon flash (model currently unknown). The pocket wizards allowed us to have wireless freedom, equal compatibility, and up to 1600 ft. range! Here's a shot of Rich at work.

Final Words-

After taking a variety of shots there was a sudden break in the clouds. The tall golden weeds seemed to illuminate and create a warm glow from the low angle of the sun. With a deep blue sky and some natural light on our model, we snapped away and got some extra shots in that we didn't anticipate. We shared alot of laughs and had a great time doing the shoot together. I want to thank Rich Dodge of RD Visuals, Kristy - our model, Sonia - our hair stylist. A special thanks to the owner of the cool ride, he was a very cool guy and made it even more of pleasure. Check out one of the shots from when the sun came out and also an outtake from the shoot that was kind of funny (not sure what Kristy was doing)? Thank you for reading my first blog ever! Be sure to leave me comments and check out my website.

http://www.jameskatt.com

http://www.jameskatt.com